


Lost in These Stars

by Lilac_Moon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adopted Keith (Voltron), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), F/M, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hunay, Hunk & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, I'm Bad At Summaries, Japanese Shiro (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, Kissing, M/M, My First AO3 Post, Not Beta Read, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pansexual Shiro (Voltron), Runaway Keith, Shiro's family adopted Keith, Slow Burn, klance, probably a slow burn, shallura - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 09:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14912517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilac_Moon/pseuds/Lilac_Moon
Summary: Living with the Shirogane's didn't feel right after Shiro moved out, and Keith wants out. His response? He runs away. Or he tries to at least. It's a long trek where Shiro is, but he's got his bike, his survival skills, and his quarter collection to help him. As things go, he should have known it wasn't going to be so easy and suddenly nothing seems to go right. Though, maybe things might turn around if he's willing to lend an ear for a certain boy who needs help more than Keith. Maybe they can learn a thing or two from each other.





	Lost in These Stars

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm new to writing on AO3 and a little new to writing Voltron. It's been an idea that's been bouncing around in my head, but only now got to writing. So I hope it was worth your (all of our) while and that you enjoy reading this!

Don’t get him wrong, the Shirogane’s home was good; amazing, even. It was the first place since his dad passed that he felt even remotely loved. Not to mention the first time he’s properly gotten three meals a day and a bed to sleep in. He even got to go to the dentist for the second time in his life; not that it was an exciting endeavor, but at least now his teeth stand a chance of not rotting before he’s thirty. Most of all, though, he finally had someone he could safely and assuredly call his brother. Shiro.

It was a rough and bumpy beginning to their unique brotherhood, what with Keith being a rebellious, stubborn preteen who experienced the barest amounts of love in his life and Shiro having lived fifteen years as a single child. It was difficult, sure, and there was a few setbacks that almost seemed irreversible, but somehow it always turned out. Maybe it was Shiro’s natural ability to read every emotion on his face to the point it was like he was reading the younger’s mind. Maybe it was because Shiro was studying to be a teacher, and as much as he denied it, he had a natural “father figure” personality. Which, if Keith was honest, was probably because of himself since he was so infuriatingly difficult and, honestly, terrible when he first moved into the Shirogane’s household. Or maybe it was because Keith, despite his stubborn and broodish ways, desperately wanted to be close to someone. He sometimes wanted random hugs to soothe his spinning mind. He sometimes wanted to just talk with someone at three o’clock in the morning. Mostly, he really wanted to have someone he could strive to be like, and thankfully for Keith, Shiro was the perfect challenge for him.

There was hardly anything wrong with this family. He could almost wholehearted tell the world that he loved this small family with all of his heart. Of course, that’s assuming he’s the gushy, heart-feely type guy. Instead he was satisfied having small moments where he got to give Mrs. Shirogane a hug and quietly mutter ‘Mom’ under his breath, hoping she didn’t hear. But of course she did. Or the rare moments he got alone with Mr. Shirogane when the man got home from a hard day's of work only for the two to hide out in the garage and work on the bike his dad left behind for him. Though, it had been in pieces when they got it out of storage. It was those moments when he could see the pride in Mr. Shirogane’s eyes, and suddenly Keith was ready to accept that this was his father now. Not the same, not better, but his father by his own right.

Yet…

He had to leave.

Shiro just graduated school and was ready to embark on his own adventure outside the home of the Shirogane’s and Keith. Now twenty-five-years-old, it was no longer a convenience for Shiro to live at home and instead was a hindrance. A burden.

Keith understood completely. He even had plans to be out of the house and no longer a burden himself once he turned 20. He tried at 18 when he was finally legally able to be on his own, but when the jobs he had fallen through and school kicked him out, the Shirogane’s kindly took him back under their wing so he could try again later, without the added pressure of finding food to fill his stomach. He wasn’t too upset about Shiro’s departure.

Except, he was.

Shiro must have known how Keith would’ve reacted; probably seen it a mile away. Which is why he waited to break the news of his new apartment until the week before the move. His apartment across the country in Florida. Apparently, since Shiro was going to start teaching while he continues his schooling, the best place was Florida. After all, the Garrison was a prestigious school that didn’t just take anyone in their classes. Keith understood why he couldn’t turn the offer down. Not when it fit so perfectly with his future goals. But, that small voice in the back of Keith’s mind wanted to ask about his future goals.

_What about me?_ He silently asked himself constantly the week before Shiro left. _What am I supposed to do?_

It felt weird after he left. Foreign. Like he was an outsider covering someone’s shift at work at a place he’s not even employed in. The Shirogane’s were as accommodating as ever. They offered him Shiro’s old room as if sensing that ache in Keith’s heart at the absence of his brother. Not adoptive brother. Brother. He could care less for stupid technical titles people threw around so easily. A brother is a brother, and that was that. The room didn’t help much, only reminded him that the true owner of this room was no longer here in Nevada, but all the way in Florida.

He felt like a stand-in for Shiro until he graduated and found a closer place to work if that was in Shiro’s plans for the future. Though, it wasn’t something Keith was about to wait around for. No, he was never known to be patient. His short-lived expedition when he tried moving out at 18 proves that. Nor was he known for following a logical plan.

He debated on whether or not he should tell the Shirogane’s. It would definitely be a low blow and would likely hurt them if he didn’t, but on the other hand, they can’t stop what they don’t know. Not until it’s too late anyway. He can always apologize later and ask for forgiveness once he’s figured out his gameplan.

After a week of contemplating, which Keith counted as a personal achievement, he decided to go through with it. He grabbed his backpack and filled it with the essentials like a couple pairs of clothes, underwear, shampoo, his quarter collection, his phone, the knife his mother left him before she passed, and his father’s fingerless gloves that he never left home without. Oh, and his wallet. Because quarters weren’t going to buy him a decent meal.

He checked his watch quickly as he slung his bag over his shoulder and tied his favorite red, cropped jacket around his waist. _1:34._ Mr. Shirogane would be at work for a couple more hours, though Mrs. Shirogane was likely already home. Though he didn’t hear her come out, so she must be tending to the garden. Luckily there was a wall between the kitchen and the small sunroom because otherwise, Mrs. Shirogane would have noticed instantly that something was up.

Even so, he quietly snatched a few small food items to stash away in his belt, and no it’s not a fanny pack, thank you very much. He didn’t want to take too much, feeling guilty of the small stuff he already nabbed and also didn’t want to make his plans visible so early on. Besides, he’s a great penny pincher and was great at conserving what little money he had, so he was good for a little while on the money.

Shoving the last of the small buns they had in his last available pouch because they’ve been there for a week, they wouldn’t notice that they lost their last two buns, Keith did one last mental scan for anything he might have missed. Going through the checklist in his mind, he checked off each item on the small list as he pushed his feet into motion.

He was doing this.

He’s going to find Shiro and he was going to give living on his own another shot. That he was sure of. Not even hesitating when he grabbed his bike keys off the crowded coffee table in the living room. Though, in grabbing the keys, he now had a perfect view of the garden through the sunroom windows and the almost worryingly small frame of Mrs. Shirogane. She was tossing some weeds from the garden into the rusty wheelbarrow behind her while she rubbed her forearms across her sweaty forehead. His hand was tightly wrapped around the keys and the other gripping one of his backpack straps as he gave a slight pause.

His gaze locked on the small smudge of dirt on her forehead when she dropped her hand to return to weeding her garden. It was small and irrelevant, and Keith wasn’t entirely sure why his eyes were stuck on that tiny smudge that she often came in with after gardening. Despite her greatest efforts, she always somehow got dirt on her face after she finished gardening. Something he always found so endearing about her. Though, now wasn’t the time to get guilty and gushy. He made up his mind.

_It’s like ripping off a Band-Aid._ He assured himself. She’d forgive him and everything would work out fine. He knew what he was doing.

He spent a moment too long standing there like an idiot staring at the stupid smudge, because not a second later Mrs. Shirogane was looked up and through the window. Keith tensed and his body was thrown through the good ol’ fight or flight response, but with that third unspoken option that a lot of people glaze over; freeze. He was caught. She was going to know right away that he was leaving and she wouldn’t have it. It would break her heart. If he didn’t know that everything was going to be alright and that he was going to figure out something for himself, his heart would be broken too.

For a second, he swore their eyes made contacts, but faster than he could blink, she sneezed. Once. Twice. Three times. She rubbed her nose quickly, before throwing her head back in a humored defeat. She now sported a healthy looking dirt mustache that was just slightly lopsided, favoring her left cheek.

A small chuckle rumbled from the base of his throat, his lips pulling up into a soft smile. One of amusement and relief. She hadn’t seen him, and if she had, she hadn’t realized. “If only Shiro was here,” he whispered. Shiro would always poke light fun at his mom while being as indirect as possible to which she would respond with a short exclamation in Japanese and embarrassed rubbing of her face before she was softly giggling while she playing pushed Shiro’s shoulder as she left to clean the dirt from her face.

And that was the thing. He was leaving to find Shiro. He may love Mr. and Mrs. Shirogane as his own parents, but it felt wrong living in their house without their son with him. It was one thing when Shiro was there for them to take care of him. They had the means, so why not? But now, if he wasn’t there, they wouldn’t need to be buying extra groceries or clothes or even books for him to read. They could save up and go on a rightfully deserved vacation or something. They wouldn’t be tied down by some lame high school dropout. But he was close to Shiro. Shiro grounded him. Shiro kept him from getting in trouble, whether it be because of his stubborn temper or because of others misconceptions or fears of him. Shiro was always there and always on his side. He may not agree with Keith’s decisions, but he certainly could understand and help Keith make better decisions in the future. By all reasoning Keith can think of, being closer to Shiro was the smartest decision he’s made for himself.

It was that same thought that caved his determination. He may be doing this for good reasons, reasons he doesn’t feel he needs to be overly apologetic over. Except, there was one price he was not willing to pay.

He shoved his keys into his pants pocket and rolled his shoulders with a sigh. He switched his destination to the back door and put on his best neutral face.

“I’m going to stay at a friends house for the weekend,” he announced before he could lose the nerve. “They needed some help with a project and he wanted to catch up while we were at it.”

Now, he wasn’t the best liar, so the surprised and confused reaction he received was expected.

“You are telling me that you are willingly and voluntarily going to spend the night at a friends house?” Mrs. Shirogane asked. Despite her surprise and confusion, there was that loving, warm smile on her face that he was so happy Shiro inherited. “I never would have thought!”

He nervously scratched the back of his neck. This is why he was always so brutally honest with people. Not only did he see any reason to lie, he was also terrible at it. Rarely has he ever gotten away with one when he tried, but sometimes when it called for it, he could be convincing. Maybe it’s because they don’t expect it, so nobody’s looking for the lie.

“Well,” she said. She slapped her gloved hands together creating a puff of dirt in the air. She tugged them off and stood up from the flower garden she was tending to. “You should take the car then. It is going to rain later and I would not want you getting wet. Do not think I did not see you grab your bike keys!”

“No, no,” he instantly shook his head. She wasn’t supposed to offer the car! “I’m just going across town, so I should be there before the rain.”

Her brows furrowed slightly, and Keith wondered if she really did see through his lie. Then why wasn’t she stopping him? Why didn’t she demand answers and explanations why he was about to leave without warning? She sighed finally. “At least take dad’s raincoat. It’s not much, but it should keep you a little warmer while you’re driving.”

He wanted to refuse because he knew Mr. Shirogane adored that coat. His wife bought it for him after all, and it was really nice. Though, saying no might be more suspicious especially after refusing to drive the car. “Fine, I’ll go grab that. Thanks.”

She smiled again and turned to look over the small garden she was getting started. “Have fun,” she said.

A pang in his chest almost made him change his mind. This was cruel. This was wrong. He was being so ungrateful to the people who not only made sure he didn’t live on the streets but had gone so far as to include him in the family. He wasn’t originally put in the Shirogane’s house for a permanent basis. It was just something they did. They helped foster kids, and he was just one of the many they helped. Except, after a while, Mrs. Shirogane got tired of having to say goodbye to so many kids, never to know what their future would hold. If they were going to a better place or be passed along the system time and time again. Keith must have done something right because the next thing he knew he was offered to be Keith Shirogane. Well, he remained as Keith Kogane in honor of his late father, but Keith 100 percent accepted them as his “forever family.” He thought it was funny, but some thought it was dark, since forever family was typically used with animal adoptions. But, hey, Keith was anything if not one for dark humor.

“Give Takashi my love, will you?”

He hadn’t realized he was still standing there, heart pumping and head spinning, until Mrs. Shirogane spoke up again. It took him a few moments to realize the implications of her request, and he was sure happy he wasn’t eating anything because he was already choking on his spit enough.

“What?” He sputtered, slapping a hand to his now burning chest. “I’m—I...I’m not going to see Shiro!”

A single raised eyebrow informed him that his lack of skills in lying has struck again. Part of him wanted to be angry; angry that the one time it really mattered for his lie to go through, it failed epically. Angry that he’s such an open book. As private and close to himself as he likes to be, it’s not hard for people to know the gist of what goes on in his head. But in the end, he couldn’t be angry. Not when he was so pathetic at lying in the first place. Not towards the only woman he would dare call mom. Though he was still stubbornly stuck to calling her by her last name.

He sighed. “I’m going to see Shiro.”

Mrs. Shirogane laughed and waved for him to follow her as she returned to the house. Defeatedly, Keith followed her. He wondered if she was going to ground him. Punish him in some sort of way. He wouldn’t put it past her, but he knew she was never the one to resort to violence, even if it was just the use of firm words. She was only ever been kind and gentle. Though, she never had to deal with a kid planning to run away before…Keith shook his head. She would never do anything. Though he was honestly more afraid that she would give him her world famous look of disapproval. The same one Shiro inherited. That was sometimes something Keith wished the boy hadn’t, because if he was keeping count of how many times Shiro got him to cave from one look, well, he wouldn’t quite be able to keep track of it on anything less than a full stack of printer paper.

They stopped when they arrived at the closet under the creaky stairs. This closet isn't often used for anything other than storage. It actually contained a lot of Shiro’s baby stuff that his parents couldn’t bear to let go. Like his shredded kitty blanket that he could probably no longer wrap it around his shoulders. Or the annoying, practically vintage _Tickle Me, Elmo_. Even at age 15, Keith had been terrified of the red, freaky muppet. To be honest, he was a few months away from being 20 and he still got the heebie-jeebies from it.

Whatever she was looking for, Keith figured it was going to be a long while before she did, because it’s been a while since anyone has organized this closet. It often gets put on the backburner on the cleaning list since it was visible to company. Though, it was a mere 10 seconds before she came stepping out of the closet.

In her hands was a small duffle bag. “It is not much,” she started, handing him the bag. “But I knew you were probably going to follow Takashi’s footsteps. I see how much you look up to him. But...I sort of hoped I was wrong. _But_ that does not mean I will not allow it. After all, you are an adult. But I wanted to help, so I had this ready for when you decided it was time.”

Keith found himself speechless. He was already a man of few words, but this was different. Now he couldn’t even believe he contemplated keeping this from her. He almost left without even getting one last hug in.

“There’s a small blanket in there, some medicine, a few vouchers for hotels—you are not sleeping outside—some energy bars. Some cash. Takashi’s old MP3, you know the one he put all his cat stickers on as if they were a protective layer.” She laughed, before breaking into a surprisingly accurate impersonation of her son, “‘‘ _Mom, no one likes hurting kitty cats! Not even the devil.’_ Oh! If I could just rewind time…”

Keith smiled before finding his long lost voice. “I don’t know what...I... Thank you, Mrs. Shiroga—” he stopped himself. Looking down to the small package in his hands. He gently put it on the ground before rushing for one of those rare hugs he craved from the woman. “Thanks, mom.”

He could feel her smile against his shoulder as she welcomed the hug. “I love you,” she whispered, before pulling away. Her arms remained firm in his arms. “Now, go tell Takashi off. I know you have been wanting to since he left.”

He nodded, a small smile tugged at his lips once more. “I will.”

Once again, Keith gathered his items and went through his mental checklist to make sure he didn’t miss anything. He couldn’t leave anything unchecked and couldn’t afford to overlook anything. He tugged his keys out of his pants pockets and swung them around his index finger suddenly feeling a lot more free than he had a half hour ago. A mother’s blessing does wonders for the mind.

Giving Mrs. Shirogane one last affirmative nod, he walked without pause to the garage to get everything situated for the ride. It didn’t take long for him to get everything prepared so it didn’t fly off, because his storage could only hold so much on his small bike. He was about the kickstart the bike when Mrs. Shirogane came rushing out into the garage.

“Wait!” she shouted a little too loud.

She was waving Mr. Shirogane’s raincoat in her hands as well as his water bottle and phone charger. He mentally cursed. How had he overlooked the water and his charger?

“I was walking past your room to get the coat and saw your charger on your bed,” she explained, handing each item to him one by one. “I grabbed it and saw your water bottle. And realized I forgot to put water in your pack! How could I forget something so important?”

Keith hurried to calm her down. When she got into her panicked frenzies, he knew she fretted over it long after the event she was stressing over was long finished. It often tired her out and she would always end up going to bed early and waking up far later than usual.

“It’s fine,” he assured. “I had laid them out so I didn’t forget....yeah, that didn’t work out so good.”

There was still a little worry in her eyes, but he can tell that she was no longer about to fall into a panic. “Okay, okay. Stop worrying about me, now you go and find Takashi. You know his address right?”

“Yep, on my phone and address book,” he said, throwing one more glance her way before moving to start his bike. But first, “Hey, you should have a talk with your hairstylist, because they got it a bit crooked.”

A few, long moments of silence had him worried that he had messed up the joke. After all, it was normally something Shiro did, Keith rarely ever had the nerve to join in. But it felt right in the moment. But…

“Nani!” she finally burst out patting her face blindly in her embarrassment. “What?”

He chuckled and made his best impression of a mustache with his index finger. She finally felt what he was talking about and burst into her own round of giggles. He could see that if he wasn’t currently standing with his bike between his legs, she would have given him that same playful shove she gave Shiro.

Finally, he started his bike and kicked it into gear, and threw his helmet onto his head. He gave the woman whom he loved one final wave, one she returned with the added effect of a blown kiss. He was tempted to catch it, like Shiro tended to do often when Keith first showed up at the Shirogane household. Though, everyone once in awhile, if she catches him off guard, her eldest son will instinctively catch it. Keith thought it was cute, but Shiro refused to admit to doing it. But Keith and Shiro’s mom knew.

“Be safe!” she shouted after him once he pulled out of the driveway.

He smiled determinedly to himself and he felt the wind against his face as his bike picked up the pace. Yeah, he might not have a solid plan on where he’s going or what he was even going to do when he gets to his destination. But he can get used to the idea of the rush of the drive on his bike he rarely got to feel going through the small roads in town.

Yeah, he was going to like this.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure when I can post the next chapter, but I'm going to try to get it done soon. I really want to explore this idea more, and I hope you guys too. 
> 
> Also, I'm aware Keith might seem a bit out of character, but I'm new to writing his character. Especially his POV. But I also feel that if he's around someone who he's comfortable with and truly likes/loves, he opens up a lot more. I believe he's secretly a big softy...If you get to know him.


End file.
